FDNY paramedic attracts Central Park fans with his outdoor bagpiping
nypost.comLt. Robert Walsh, a bagpiper and FDNY paramedic, typically plays funerals and memorials, but those who enjoy the sound of the woodwind instrument can also catch him in a more convivial setting.
He regularly practices in Central Park along the west side of the 102nd Street Transverse, where he draws in droves of fans. “[I] get people who will take a picture or take a video,” Walsh, a key member of the FDNY EMS Pipes and Drums band, told The Post. “Or I get people who will clap and come up to me as I’m playing a tune,” he said. “They always say there’s some connection to their family or that the sound reminds them of something.”This weekend, he and the band are looking forward to another uplifting venue: New York City’s St.
Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday. “We get to play the happier tunes,” said the 55-year-old who will perform military medleys and traditional Irish melodies such as “Robin Adair” and “The Rowan Tree” while wearing a dress jacket, Glengarry hat and kilts.“It’s like the prom,” Walsh told The Post. “We all get dressed up fancy and everyone takes our picture.
It’s a lot of fun.” Walsh, who joined the FDNY in 2000 and worked nightmarish 16-hour shifts at Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11, wasn’t always a musical talent who attracted packs of spectators.
Read more on nypost.com